Islam and the fate of Jesus

[Hashi_Al-Eritre]

continued…

Ibn Kathir says regarding the decent of Jesus:

Jesus son of Mary will descend from Heaven and kill the Dajjaal, as we have already mentioned. The descent of Jesus is mentioned in the Ayaat:

“And because of their saying (in boast), “We killed Messiah Jesus, son of Mary, the Messenger of Allaah,” - but they killed him not, nor crucified him, but the resemblance of Jesus was put over another man (and they killed that man), and those who differ therein are full of doubts. They have no (certain) knowledge, they follow nothing but conjecture. For surely; they killed him not: But Allaah raised him up (with his body and soul) unto Himself (in the heavens). And Allaah is Ever All Powerful, All Wise. And there is none of the people of the Scripture (Jews and Christians), but must believe in him (ie. Jesus), before his death. And on the Day of Resurrection, he (Jesus) will be a witness against them.” [an-Nisaa’ (4):157-9]

We think that the Tafseer (interpretation) of this Aayah is that the
pronoun in “before his death” (qabla mawtihi) refers to Jesus; i.e, he will descend and the People of the Book who differed concerning him will believe in him. The Christians claimed that he was divine, while the Jews made a slanderous accusation, i.e. that he was born from adultery. When Jesus descends before the Day of Judgment, he will correct all these differences and lies.

Regarding how Jesus will kill the Anti-Christ (Dajjal), Ibn Kathir says:

The Dajjaal will be permitted to appear at the end of time, after the Muslims have conquered a Roman city called Constantinople. He will first appear in Isfahaan, in an area known as the Jewish quarter (al-Yahoodiyyah). He will be followed by seventy thousand Jews from that area, all of them armed. Seventy thousand Tatars and many people from Khuraasaan will also follow him. At first he will appear as a tyrannical king, then he will claim to be a prophet, then a lord. Only the most ignorant of men will follow him; the righteous and those guided by Allaah will reject him. He will start to conquer the world country by country, fortress by fortress, region by region, town by town; no place will remain unscathed except Makkah and Madeenah. The length of his stay on earth will be forty days: one day like a year, one day like a month, one day like a week, and the rest of the days like normal days, i.e. his stay will be approximately one year and two and a half months. Allaah will grant him many miracles, through which whoever He wills will be astray, and the faith of the believers will be strengthened. The descent of Jesus son of Mary, the true Messiah, will happen at the time of the Dajjaal, the false messiah. He will descend to the minaret in the east of Damascus. The believers and true servants of Allaah will gather to support him, and the Messiah Jesus son of Mary will lead them against the Dajjaal, who at that time will be heading for Bayt al-Maqdis (Jerusalem). He will catch up with him at 'Aqabah 'Afeeq. The Dajjaal will runaway from him, but Jesus will catch up with him at the gate of Ludd (ie. Lod, located in Jerusalem), and will kill him with his spear just as he is entering it. He will say to him, “I have to deal you a blow; you cannot escape.” When the Dajjaal faces him, he will begin to dissolve like salt in water. So Jesus will kill him with his spear at the gate of Ludd (ie. Lod), and he will die there, as many Saheeh Ahaadeeth (Authentic Prophet sayings) indicate.

Majma’ ibn Jaariyah is reported to have said, "I heard the Prophet (sal-Allaahu 'alayhe wa sallam) saying, ‘The son of Mary will kill the Dajjaal at the gate of Ludd.’ " [Tirmidhee]

continued…

 

[Hashi_Al-Eritre]

continued…

After killing the Anti-Christ, and after some time of prosperity in the Land while Jesus is the ruler, Gog and Magog will appear as the next trial. Ibn Kathir says:

Gog and Magog will appear at the time of Jesus son of Mary,
after the Dajjaal. Allaah will destroy them all in one night, in response to the supplication of Jesus.

They are two groups of Turks, descended from Yaafith (Japheth), the father of the Turks, one of the sons of Noah. At the time of Abraham (alayhi-salam), there was a king called Dhu’l-Qarnayn. He
performed Tawaaf around the Ka’bah with Abraham (alayhi-salam) when he first built it; he believed and followed him. Dhu’l-Qarnayn was a good man and a great king; Allaah gave him great power and he ruled the east and west. He held sway over all kings and countries, and travelled far and wide in both east and west. He travelled eastwards until he reached a pass between two mountains, through which people were coming out. They did not understand anything, because they were so isolated; they were Gog and Magog. They were spreading corruption through the earth,
and harming the people, so the people sought help from Dhu’l-Qarnayn. They asked him to build a barrier between them and Gog and Magog. He asked them to help him to build it, so together they built a barrier by mixing iron, copper and tar.
Thus Dhu’l-Qarnayn restrained Gog and Magog behind the barrier. They tried to penetrate the barrier, or to climb over it, but to no avail. They could not succeed because the barrier is so huge and smooth. They began to dig, and they have been digging for centuries; they will continue to do so until the time when Allaah decrees that they come out. At that time the barrier will collapse, and Gog and Magog will rush out in all directions, spreading corruption, uprooting plants, killing people. When Jesus (alayhi-salam) prays against them, Allaah will send a kind of worm in the napes of their necks, and they will be killed by it.

Ive ofcourse tried to be concise, even though it seems lengthy. Ibn Kathir’s work on this is alot longer and more detailed with many narrations.

 

[Hashi_Al-Eritre]

George Waters:

I know he is considered a greater prophet, but is there some other reason why Islam believes he was spared the fate of many earlier prophets?

So in continuation with my answer to your question, the Quran describes Jesus as the Messiah, the Christ. And after reading into what God has planned for Jesus in the future in terms of killing the the false Messiah, the Anti-Christ, we are able to see the wisdom behind God sparing the life of Jesus as opposed to other Prophets and Messengers. Jesus is the Messiah, and who is more fitting to kill the false messiah to come than the Messiah himself. Also, many other wisdoms we can derive, such as the fact Jesus will come back as a just ruler, he will be a husband and a father (i couldnt find the narration to that although i know i read it before, if i do i will post it), and he will clarify the truth to the world about the true religion (since Jesus is a foundamental part of the differing between Muslims, Christians and Jews), his supplication to God will be the cause for God to destroy the Gog and Magog, etc.

So definately there is alot of wisdom behind God sparing the life of Jesus, because he will come back to do many great and beneficial things for mankind on earth.

 

[Hashi_Al-Eritre]

Chris LaRock:

But, you deny that he is the annointed one by reducing him to a mere prophet. He cannot be both the Christ and an ordinary prophet.

Christ does not denote divinity. Jesus being Christ doesnt really have anything to do with him being divine.

 

[Chris_LaRock]

‘Christ’ means annointed one. As in, messiah and savior.

 

[jcaz]

‘Christ’ means annointed one. As in, messiah and savior.

Chris,

Thank you for your opinion on this. However, Christ does not mean savior.

As you agreed, Christ means “annointed one.” Now, if you want to somehow “link” the term “annointed one” with savior, that is your choice, but the fact remains that Christ does **not ** mean “annointed one.”

Regards,
Jonathan

 

[Chris_LaRock]

READ THIS:

jcaz:

Hey Chris,

I can be wrong, but I do not believe the Quraan calls Jesus, peace be upon him, “Christ Jesus.” Perhaps a translation calls him this. But I do not believe Christ will be found in the arabic. Now, you will find the word Messiah, as Allaah does say that Jesus, peace be upon him, is the expected Messiah.

Perhaps the translater of that copy chose “Christ Jesus” because he feels it is synonomous with saying Jesus. And really, Chris, from a Muslim perspective, I see nothing wrong with calling him Christ Jesus.

Perhaps you should refer to the meaning of Christos in Greek, as it does not mean “savior” as you alluded. Rather, Christos means “annointed one”, and a Muslim should have no problem calling 'Isa, Christ Jesus. So as you see, there is no contradiction at all. Rather it was merely a misunderstanding of what Christ actually means.

Jonathan

 

[jcaz]

Chris,

At first I was wondering, “why is this guy asking me to read my own post, like I do not know what is there”. I was beginning to seriously question your logic, until I realized the mistake I made.

It has been a long day, and my fingers were apparently not in-tune with what little brain function seems to be left.

Here’s my post in question:

Chris,

Thank you for your opinion on this. However, Christ does not mean savior.

As you agreed, Christ means “annointed one.” Now, if you want to somehow “link” the term “annointed one” with savior, that is your choice, but the fact remains that Christ does not mean “annointed one.”

Regards,
Jonathan

As you can see, I started this post saying that Christ does indeed mean “annointed one”, which is correct, and is the actual translation of Christ. The point that I was trying to make is that the word “savior” is not in any definition of the word Christ. So the last sentence should have said:

, if you want to somehow “link” the term “annointed one” with savior, that is your choice, but the fact remains that Christ does not mean “savior.”

Most people would have probably guessed what I meant, but I do thank you for pointing that out to me.

So Chris, again, your premise was that there is a contradiction in a Muslim calling Jesus the Christ, as we do not believe he was the savior. The response to you is that Christ does not mean savior. Rather, it means “annointed one.” Thus, your “contradiction” does not hold.

Regards,
Jonathan

 

[George_Waters]

Jonathan & Hashi,

Thank you for taking the time to respond to my question. While I was curious if there was another reason why Islam believes Jesus would return as our judge, etc., I can certainly accept that it is simply the will of God and we can not always understand His will or His ways. What I had hoped for is irrelevant as long as I receive the truth, and you both have been very truthful on this thread and in all of your posts to me. You are a credit to your faith. Thank you both!

While my question has been answered, please feel free to continue discussing anything and all issues that this thread has raised. As long as we are discussing there is hope for us all.

Peace

George

 

[Chris_LaRock]

jcaz:

Chris,

At first I was wondering, “why is this guy asking me to read my own post, like I do not know what is there”. I was beginning to seriously question your logic, until I realized the mistake I made.

It has been a long day, and my fingers were apparently not in-tune with what little brain function seems to be left.

Here’s my post in question:

As you can see, I started this post saying that Christ does indeed mean “annointed one”, which is correct, and is the actual translation of Christ. The point that I was trying to make is that the word “savior” is not in any definition of the word Christ. So the last sentence should have said:

Most people would have probably guessed what I meant, but I do thank you for pointing that out to me.

So Chris, again, your premise was that there is a contradiction in a Muslim calling Jesus the Christ, as we do not believe he was the savior. The response to you is that Christ does not mean savior. Rather, it means “annointed one.” Thus, your “contradiction” does not hold.

Regards,
Jonathan

‘Annointed one’ implies that Jesus is no mere prophet. How many other Islamic prophets were called ‘the annointed one’? This would set him appart from the rest of the prophets, I would think. The only conclusion I can draw is that the Jesus of the Koran is not the true Jesus of the Bible, as they are obviously not the same person.